(Castellano) (Català) Presentació del llibre “Escoltar el Don Giovanni de Mozart” de Pere-Albert Balcells

Posted by Soledad Sánchez on December 12, 2011  |  Leave a comment

A summer with lots of music, by Javier Pérez Senz

Posted by Javier Pérez Senz on June 28, 2011  |  Leave a comment

Catalunya still boasts a wide offer of summer festivals. It’s true that there is not always a clear programming policy, and all too often the proposals consist of presenting several concerts without a common theme or clear artistic focus, but the offer still stands, despite the crisis.

In the case of Barcelona, the situation is rather depressing. In fact, it is a city where classical music almost disappears in the summer. Only the Gran Teatre del Liceu offers a quality programme during July: the end of the season includes concerts of Tamerlane by Handel, with Plácido Domingo and Bejun Mehta in the cast, and Daphne, by Richard Strauss, with Pablo González making his debut at the Liceu at the helm of the OBC.

The Festival Grec has increased its classical offer, traditionally rather scarce, under the artistic direction of Ricardo Szwarcer, and forthcoming events include an opera concert with Ainhoa Arteta and the Cadaqués Orchestra under the baton of Jaime Martin, with Puccini featuring prominently in the programme.

Incidentally, the great Basque soprano has just released an extraordinary recital with the pianist Malcolm Martineau, which is her debut with the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. The repertoire includes pieces by Charles Gounod, Georges Bizet, Reynaldo Hahn and an exciting section devoted to the great Spanish song repertoire including the Cinco canciones negras by Xavier Montsalvatge, four Tonadillas al estilo antiguo, by Enric Granados and the Poema en forma de canciones, op. 19, by Joaquín Turina.

Fortunately, despite the crisis, many summer festivals remain active, but the compulsive search for new audiences and the blind obsession with eclecticism as a programming formula has swept away many of the hallmarks of some of the most traditional venues.

The same cannot be said of the classical offer at the Auditori – reduced to its minimum expression, although this year the Sónar has included a magnificent homage to Steve Reich – or the Palau de la Música Catalana, with an offer exclusively intended to attract tourists.

Fortunately, despite the crisis, many summer festivals remain active, but the compulsive search for new audiences and the blind obsession with eclecticism as a programming formula has swept away many of the hallmarks of some of the most traditional venues. Where once classical music reigned supreme – because most festivals around Catalonia began as festivals specializing in classical music – world music, jazz, pop and other genres now share the limelight.

The trend is not necessarily bad, but caution is needed and the occasional mega concert in search of mass audiences is not to be entirely trusted. One thing is to harness the pull of the media stars so as to be able to display the sold-out sign, something legitimate and commendable, and another thing is to overlook the rest, the promotion of new values and local productions as a sign of identity. In this sense, we can applaud the consistency, rigour and unquestionable quality of the Torroella de Montgrí International Festival of Music and also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Festival Castell de Peralada, which this year returns to its origins with a sensational programme focused on opera.

This summer also counts on two new events, conceived with the idea of supporting very distinct artistic proposals. On the one hand, the Festival de Música Antiga dels Pirineus has been launched with plenty of momentum, fruit of the joint efforts of different institutions in the Pyrenees. Its programming policy is clear and attractive: drawing on the beauty of the rich architectural heritage in the area and its suitability as a backdrop for early music, in order to offer evenings with musical personality, presented by the best bands and singers specialised in the historical performance of the early and baroque repertoire . And, importantly, the idea is to make it a key event for both the international promotion of the best Catalan ensembles and soloists and the dissemination of our musical heritage.

The second proposal also combines architectural beauty with music and includes gastronomy as a novel incentive. This is the Modernist soirees in the unique setting of the Monestir de San Benet, a proposal that offers visitors the chance to enjoy a concert of “Modernist” music in the monastery cellars and, optionally, during the same evening visit the “Modernist” space dedicated to Ramon Casas at Món Sant Benet and enjoy supper in the gardens.

Commitment to music, by Javier Pérez Senz

Posted by Javier Pérez Senz on June 9, 2011  |  Leave a comment

There are things that stir the music-lover’s memory, which bring back reminiscences of that irreplaceable experience which consists of listening to live music in its natural environment, the auditorium. For many fans, the recent recording of the symphonic rhapsody Catalonia, by Isaac Albéniz, at the hands of Jaime Martin and the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC) will come as a pleasant surprise: the discovery of a score that exudes freshness, simplicity and melodic charm. For others, it will imply the rediscovery of a work that would be an obligatory part of the concert repertoire in any civilized country, but here, sadly, is not.

Its audition allows listeners to refresh their impressions and memories of great conductors and composers who, throughout their careers, demonstrated their belief in the value of this piece by their acts, without getting caught up in the widespread and sterile debate about Albéniz’s poor reputation as an orchestrator. Certainly, it is a marvel of refinement, but, when performed with full conviction of its merits, the listener is immediately captivated by the simplicity, the melodic inspiration and eternal freshness that permeate the Catalan composer’s music.

I am speaking of legendary musicians, such as the Russian Igor Markévitch, especially in his wonderful period of artistic involvement with the Orquesta Sinfónica de la RTVE; the Romanian Georges Enescu, stalwart defender of a piece that he often programmed, and all over the world; and Eduard Toldrà, the brilliant Catalan violinist, conductor and composer who, in 1944, created the Orquestra Municipal de Barcelona (now the OBC, which has at last recorded Catalonia), and who was a fervent promoter of the Spanish repertoire.

A greater commitment to music is needed and less obsession with attendance figures and box office takings.

There is a need for concert programmers who really believe in Spanish music.

The list includes musicians who are active at this time, such as Antoni Ros Marbà, a passionate perfomer of Albéniz and, in a very special way, of Toldrà, who was his teacher, Jesús López Cobos and José de Eusebio (thanks to his enthusiasm we now know more about the Camprodón musician’s operatic legacy than ever before; the recording discussed today includes an orchestral suite from Pepita Jiménez revised by him), and on his first CD with the OBC, Jaime Martin,

Albéniz had and has eloquent supporters. Why, then, is Catalonia still rarely heard in concert halls? Difficult question. First of all, there is a need for concert programmers who really believe in Spanish music. It is pointless to include just four or five pieces in a whole symphonic season; nor is the Spanish share of the programmes sufficient; nor are there enough commissions, increasingly unambitious and scarce. A greater commitment to music is needed and less obsession with attendance figures and box office takings.

There is enough leeway to balance the offer using the more popular classics to attract the general public –it all depends on the programmers’ imagination. The regularisation of works such as Catalonia – and this piece is just one example because there are hundreds of scores in the same situation – requires a strong alliance between performers, programmers and the public.

The musicians with power – and the chief conductors of a symphonic ensemble have a lot of power – are the ones who ultimately have a greater say when it comes to choosing which works are programmed and which are left out: when a chief conductor wants to play a given piece, eventually it gets played.

Programmers, managers and artistic directors should limit themselves to doing their duty, because the revival and dissemination of the national repertoire is an obligation for all orchestras, auditoriums and the concert-going public.

As for the public, the greatest possible complicity is needed, using the media that now, more than ever, can arouse – if used with imagination and efficiency  – music-lovers’ curiosity, the desire to discover new and old scores, the possibility of expanding frontiers.

Fernando Sor and the guitar: beyond six strings

Posted by Josep Dolcet on May 6, 2011  |  Leave a comment

As part of the European tour of the musicianand researcher John Doan, associate professor at the Willamette University in Salem (Oregon, USA), the Sor Society of Barcelona (SSB) has organised, in conjunction with the Barcelona Museum of Music, a seminar (conference and recital) on Fernando Sor and his decisive role in the evolution of the guitar and other plucked string instruments.

The Catalan Fernando Sor (Barcelona 1778 – Paris 1839), besides being one of the leading composers in Spain during the transitional period between Classicism and Romanticism, was the musician who, thanks to his works and performances, raised the guitar to the category of concert instrument in the “cultured” world of international music. What is less known is that Sor also played a decisive role in the technical development of the guitar, through his contacts with the most important luthiers of his epoch.

In addition, Sor also composed for an instrument invented at that time: the harpolyre (a guitar with three necks and 21 strings). After the conference we will be able to listen to these pieces for the first time in Europe after almost a century of neglect, thanks to the arrangements made by John Doan.

A well known figure on the Celtic music scene today, John Doan will also play some pieces on the harp guitar, his usual instrument.
For further information on the session at the Museum of Music >

The Magic Opal by Isaac Albéniz

Posted by Arnau Farré on April 14, 2011  |  2 Comments

Josep Pla was of the opinion that music should be systematically understandable: “if necessary, to the point of sheer vulgarity, mud and bricks and that’s it.” The operetta genre lends itself more freely to this description than others, or to put it in a more pedantic and euphemistic way, this excess of comprehensibility.

Using an eccentric libretto that situates the action on the coast of Greece (a circumstance that determines the names of some characters but has no influence on the music, unless it’s the abundance of Phrygian cadences) Isaac Albéniz complies effectively with the customs of Victorian operetta.

Now, in a magnificent edition by Borja Mariño, this work is newly available and we have the opportunity to approach it with a full and thorough knowledge of the facts. Forget any condescension towards the genre, though: it is more than likely that “The Magic Opal” has moments of ambivalent simplicity in store for us, unbearable and delicious at the same time.

Listen to an excerpt from The Magic Opal >

More early music, please

Posted by Llorenç Caballero on March 30, 2011  |  1 Comment

The weekend before last, the annual meeting of the Asociación de Festivales de Música Clásica, “Festclásica”, was held in Orense. This association brings together over forty music festivals held throughout the peninsula and is intended to present the festivals and the activities they organise. I participated as representative of the Festivales de San Lorenzo in El Escorial.

FestClásica carries out two annual projects that I would like to draw attention to here. The first is the commission offered to twelve composers to compose short works around the theme ” Una Iberia para Albéniz” (An Iberia for Albéniz), in memory of the Spanish maestro. And these will be premiered by the pianist Juan Carlos Garbayo, with the release of a CD to follow.

The second project relates to the “Comisión de música antigua” (Early Music Commission) organised by some of the festivals (Quincena, Aranjuez and Zamora). This involved the award of three prizes for the recovery by an early music ensemble of an unpublished work from the Spanish musical heritage. The winners were:

1. Alia Música for the liturgy El Alma Lastimada, conductor Miguel Ángel Sánchez
2. El Concierto Español for Ifigenia en Tracia by José de Nebra, conductor Emilio Moreno
3. La Grand Chapelle for Canto del Alma by Cristóbal Galán, conductor Albert Recasens

On the occasion of the presentation of these awards and taking advantage of free time available while travelling by bus in Galicia, I have reviewed the discography of some of these groups.

What is obvious is that early music from Spain has possessed and still possesses unrivalled strength and energy, and enjoys an international reputation, and that the public interest it attracts responds to none other than its high quality and enviable good shape. In this sense the excellent level of some of these groups in general and some musicians in particular deserves special mention. The three groups have developed some very interesting programs of the highest quality, and the level of the performances on the recordings is extraordinary, besides these being splendidly presented.

The fact that in the last 30 years many Spanish musicians have left to study in countries more specialized in this genre, and many of them have returned and are now working as teachers in conservatories and schools around the country, has led to a notable improvement in the level of the students. Such a high level of musical expertise is now evident when playing these repertoires that this country has ended up by overtaking those countries that previously served us as a model.

The truth is that as director of Tritó Edicions, and after personally witnessing this high level of both recording and playing at the weekend, I feel that we should consider issuing some of the scores of these as yet unpublished Spanish works in order to round off the work that these groups, thanks to their energy and initiative, are carrying out.

Congratulations to everyone who has made this happen and I cherish the hope that the festivals and the authorities will continue promoting and further supporting (much more) all this movement.

Llorenç Caballero
Director of Tritó Edicions

Upcoming concerts

Posted by Cristina Martí on February 21, 2011  |  1 Comment

Maybe you are still not aware that Tritó has a concert schedule, which provides details of all our composers’ musical activity, both around Spain and abroad.

To begin with, last week, on the 23 and 25 February, the Oviedo Filarmonía, under the baton of Lorenzo Ramos, performed the Tonadillas by Enric Granados with orchestration by Albert Guinovart, at the Auditorio Príncipe Felipe in Oviedo and the Madrid auditorium.

And on 26 February in Biscaya, the Orquestra Simfònica de Bilbao and the Orfeón Donostiarra continued the commemoration of the 50^th anniversary of the death Jesús Guridi, performing his “Cuadros Vascos” at the Teatro Social Antzokia in Basauri

We can recommend seven concerts in March: if you were at the Centre Pompidou in Paris on the 2^nd of the month you may have listened to the Ensemble Intercontemporain playing “Stress Tensor” by Hèctor Parra. On the 11^th, Sortilegis, by Xavier Montsalvatge, will be performed at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid by the Orquestra de RTVE, and on the following day, at the same venue and with soloists from the same orchestra, you can listen to the Quartet with oboe by Jesús Torres

Continuing in the month of March, other concerts are La rosa del azafrán, by Jacinto Guerrero in Albacete on the 18^th, Orchestral highlights from the opera Pepita Jiménez by Isaac Albéniz (edited by José de Eusebio) in Reutlingen (Germany), and the Obertura del ballet Alphonse et Léonore ou L’amant peintre by Ferran Sor in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, both on the 24^th. And lastly, on 29 March the students from the Salamanca Music Conservatory will play the Concert for bassoon and chamber ensemble by Agustí Charles

There’s sure to be something that interests you among all these works. As you know, if you want to go to a concert, consult the schedule for the next few months. Enjoy yourselves!

Riccardo Muti. The Art of Music Conducting

Posted by Marcel Soleda on January 31, 2011  |  2 Comments

Funny and spiring speech by Maestro Riccardo Muti, after receiving the Musician of the Year 2010 Award, of Musical America. He is both witty and wise when describing the difficult art of Music Conducting. You should not miss this.

Carles Magraner commemorates Tomás Luis de Victoria

Posted by Cristina Martí on January 25, 2011  |  Leave a comment

Carles Magraner’s new project coincides, in 2011, with the IV centenary of the death of Tomás Luis de Victoria. It will constitute the next CD to be released by the Capella de Ministrers ensemble.

© Pascual Ibáñez 06

This new repertoire, titled “Canticum Nativitatis Domini”, brings together Victoria’s complete works for instruments and voice for the Advent, Christmas and Epiphany liturgies.

It was during last December that the Valencia ensemble Capella de Ministrers, directed by Carles Magraner, recorded and presented this new repertoire in concert. The recording took place in the Church of Santa Maria de Requena and the concert in the Church of the Patriarca de Valencia, as part of the “XI Festival of Ancient Music: Music, History and Art”. The new album will be released in a deluxe edition in 2011 and will offer the opportunity to become acquainted with the least known works by the composer from Avila. Capella de Ministrers approaches Victoria’s music with an emotional expressiveness in keeping with its dramatic magnificence.

With this new title in the discography of Capella de Ministrers, Carles Magraner once again celebrates Tomás Luis de Victoria, considered the most famous polyphonist of the Spanish Renaissance. On the previous occasion it was with the “Requiem” programme focused on the 1605 Officium Defunctorum, which the mystical composer wrote in honour of the Empress Maria, sister to King Philip II.

In Andrés Ruiz de Tarazona’s programme notes for this repertoire we can read:
“…Capella de Ministrers lives up to its name and excels in enriching the polyphonic fabric, giving it solemnity. This occurs, for example, in the beautiful introduction to the Lectio, that brief recitation with a processional character, note against note, and with only four voices, and really overwhelming in its naked expressiveness…”

On this occasion, the pieces recorded comprise music written for the Advent, Christmas and Epiphany liturgies, with the focus on the motets, some as well-known as “O magnum mysterium” – one of the most famous of the entire sixteenth century – as well as other pieces that have rarely or never been released as recordings.

For this production Carles Magraner has banked on the extraordinary group of performers who usually accompany him, as well as a mixed vocal ensemble, alternating chorus and soloists. The solo voices will be Erika Escribá-Astaburuaga, Pilar Esteban, David Sagastume, Lambert Climent, Francisco Fernández Rueda and Tomás Maxé. For the recording he counted on the young ensemble L´Almodí Cor de Cambra.
See the Capella de Ministrers discography >

The work that Albéniz began and Granados finished

Posted by Marcel Soleda on December 22, 2010  |  1 Comment

“Azulejos is really delightful. Rosina has given me the original copy by Isaac and I treasure it. But I’m happy to share it with you. Would you like a copy? I’ll send you the original of what I’ve written.”

This is how the letter ends that Enrique Granados sent to Joaquim Malats in 1910 about Azulejos, an exquisite piano work that the maestro Isaac Albéniz had left unfinished and which would have constituted the beginning of a second suite, following the success of the Suite Iberia. Granados began at bar 51 and left it with its present 154 bars in a masterly exercise in composition, where he is faithful to his own style but at the same time does not betray the original spirit Albéniz’s work.

The finished work was published in 1911 by Édition Mutuelle in Paris. The original manuscripts were separated and have been held up to the present day in the Museum of Music of Barcelona and the Biblioteca de Catalunya, respectively. However the central sheet which contains the union of the two parts got lost and finally appeared in a collection of autograph scores. Probably owing to its peculiarity, it was removed, framed and exhibited at the Institut del Teatre.

As a result of this discovery the Biblioteca de Catalunya prepared a special edition, with score and facsimile of the original, to mark the hundredth anniversary of the composition of this work.

This new edition has been used to record the CD Azulejos, música de cámara, which, as well as the performance of Azulejos by the pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier, contains the Quintet in G minor and the Trío in C by Enrique Granados, performed by Santiago Juan and Cristian Benito, violin; Alejandro Garrido, viola; and Màrius Díaz, violoncello.

Listen to it here >